So I just got my first ticket. Any advice?

Clueless urban myth.

There is no city in the country that doesn't assign "court days" for cops. So he spends a day in court addressing all those who want to fight tickets HE has written. Not "2 hours standing around". Which is why court dates are assigned... not chosen.

Despite that, there is nothing in the law that says a ticket has to be dropped because a cop didn't show up.
I'd love for you to step up and prove that one wrong.

Good luck.

 

I can't reply to any law regarding traffic offenses, given the various state's statutes. I can, however, give you some further information to consider:

1-A police officer who signs a traffic citation is technically the complainant in a quasi-criminal case. As in most other cases, if there is no witness the prosecution can't proceed, which tends to aggravate a lot of people in the system, and does effect how you are viewed by the court on your next appearance.

2-Unfortunately, some suburban and rural police departments have become revenue gathering agencies by way of traffic citations, and the town fathers don't take kindly to an officer, basically an employee, costing them their share of the fines. I personally, along with many others in my area, have been disciplined for missing court dates, and when your performance reviews come up, that matters.
Enjoy!

 

All great advice. Excellent stuff. I cant add anything. I have had many tickets in my decades of driving. I cant think of ONE I have won when I decided to take it to court. I have had the charge reduced but the judge never ruled against the officer, even the few times I was innocent, and quite a few when the judge increased the amount. Recently I got a ticket on my birthday for no seat belt, then no a ticket for not having proof of insurance (I had bought the insurance the same day receiving the car for a bd present). I didn’t even fight it! I mailed in* 50 bucks for the seat belt, $150 for the insurance fine, 65 bucks reinstatement (DR Lic Fee). Still that was better than it could have been.

* (can you believe the dept of safety changed its name to homeland security??? (wtf) ~ Might as well come out of the closet and just call it FATHERLAND SECURITY. Sig heil ....Used to be we were innocent until proven guilty. Today it’s the other way round’. And that my friends (and others) is a sad statement, describing the direction our nations institutions ie the judicial, legislative, and other bastions of our nation are heading.

reva

 

First thing to do is check laws on posted speed signs. When I was in WA I was pulled over for going 50 in a 30, but I told the officer that I was taught I was supposed to speed up TO the posted speed BEFORE reaching the sign, and he didn't give me a ticket. And that's actually true (that I was taught that), but laws vary state to state. Look it up. If that's the case in your state, you can challenge the ticket and get off without paying a dime.

Otherwise, I'd suggest deferral. I had one other speeding ticket in Washington (seriously, I've driven in half the states, only ever got pulled over for speeding in Washington), when I was caught in a speed trap. It was a $190 ticket or somewhere around there, but when I went to court I chose deferral. What that meant was I paid a flat fee of $225 (or somewhere there about, it was just a little more expensive), and the ticket was held. Basically, WA state agreed to hold the ticket and shred it so long as I didn't get another in 12 months (which I didn't because this was just before I left that (*)(*)(*)(*)ty state). So I paid another $30 extra or so and it didn't go on my record, and my insurance wasn't affected. Had I gotten another, I would have had to pay the first and second ticket, and they keep the deferral fee.

So look into deferral. Sounds like it'll be tour best option.

 

Its not a clueless urban myth. I have an uncle who has done that multiple times. The trick, according to him, is to try to get your date changed. Depending on where you are, the court will allow you to change the date if you give them a good reason. Then it is a matter of the cop just standing around for two hours.

The main thing to note is where you are. When I was in WA, the cop never showed up and was not required to.

 

There is nothing that says the ticket has to be "dropped" but that meaningless old Sixth Amendment to the Constitution says you have a right to confront your accuser and that has been incorporated to the states under the 14th Amendment, so if you are found guilty with no witness against you and you are not entering a guilty plea, your rights have been violated.

 

This may happen but it isn't "law".

When I was in court to fight a ticket once, I saw person after person stand before the judge, against a cop who wasn't their, told to either pay their fine, or they received a reduction. Me included.

I had a friend go to court to fight a speeding ticket where the cop was driving the opposite direction and claimed to have got him on radar.
An easy ticket to fight. No cop showed up and he had to pay the full fine, and receive all the points.

Another guy I know fought a ticket for speeding, with a bag of weed found in his car. No cop. He received full punishment for speeding... and not one mention of the weed.

Because of all these incidents, I did some research... and the laws don't force the judges to throw out the tickets just because a cop doesn't show up in court.

It is at the judge's discretion.

 

You do have a right to confront your accuser.
So you tell the judge you want to reschedule, and hopefully the cop will show up next time. Or the next. Or the next.

This has nothing to do with "case dismissed because the cop wasn't there" though.

 

Been there done that.
Admit you were wrong
Plead 'no contest' in court.
Ask if you can pay in installments.
Grab whatever you don't need and sell it, pawn it, whatever it takes. You have to decide what is important.

 

As a matter of practice, if the cop just flakes without notifying the court, the case is usually dismissed to avoid the unsavory task of having a show cause summons issued against the cop for failure to appear if he were under a subpoena. Personally, unless I had a real defense other than hoping the ticket gods favored me, I would just pay the ticket in advance and be done with it. In my state, if there was no accident, you are not a minor, and it was not reckless driving by speed, you can just skip the whole going to court thing.

 

Adding qualifiers like "without notifying", changes the original claim.

But that does remind me of a time when someone I knew was told they would have to reschedule because the cop was not present.
The charges my have been stiffer than speeding though, I don't remember the details.

Same as you... where I am, we just send in the fine, and you are allowed to explain your reasons (then cross your fingers), but I have never heard of any successful plead via mail.

 

Doppler radar which the police use if used while the police car is moving ONLY works if the target is moving in the opposite direction, ie they are closing on each other. The more off center the less accurate the reading. If stationary it can calculate the speed.

 

You are correct in that you must subpoena the officer, which is easy to do just go to the clerk of court within a reasonable time before the trial. Also subpoena a copy of the ticket, his copy front and back so you can see any notes he may have written on the back. If radar and you REALLY want to go through a questioning of him subpoena his calibration records and training records and any other tickets he issued that day. You may or may not find anything of value in the documents and the Judge may just sigh since they have probably been through such fishing expeditions before.

If he is under a subpoena and doesn't show then the judge will likely postpone if lucky dismiss for him not showing.

The best thing you can do is treat the officer with respect at the scene, if you are guilty of speeding admit you were and that you just lost your attention for the moment and you will pay more attention now that he pulled you over. If he is in a decent mood and you weren't traveling too fast he may let you go completely or with a written warning.

 

I agree. As I mentioned before, it all depends on the judge. However, there are factors involved that the public is not aware of. As I don't know what area you are in, I can only relate from my own experience.

1-There are times when community leaders will lodge a complaint with the chief judge that a particular judge is too lenient on traffic violations, therefore affecting their portion of the recovered fines. Naturally the judge, who probably has plans for a higher position, doesn't need that aggravation, so for a time he/she will hammer most of the violators that appear.

2- Again, area not withstanding, if the offense was your basic traffic violation, not something like DUI, fleeing the police or leaving the scene of an accident, or depending on the attitude of the defendant at the time of the citation (I have personally given a pass on occasion when a driver just comes out and says hey, I screwed up) most were dropped without the complaining witness present.

3- I once inadvertently saw a judges calendar. On it he had listed the number of violators he would convict on those dates. Not very judicial, but there it was.
Enjoy!

 

We aren't allowed to plea by mail. It is a guilty plea in effect. You don't even have to show up for court if your forget to mail it. You just have to pay it or make payment arrangements at the Clerk's Office within the time allotted for appeals after your court date when you have a trial in abstention to avoid having a show cause issued against you for not paying your fine. In my area, it is pretty impossible to beat a legit speeding ticket unless you have a mechanical problem like calibration or broken speedometer or a legit life or death emergency. We are not one of those hire a lawyer and it becomes a non-moving violation places and we are not one of those if your speedometer is 2 mph off they will dismiss the 20 mph speeding ticket places either.

 

My mom has gotten out of a lot of tickets. Once she was going 50 in a 25 school zone and I was with her. The cop wanted to know what the emergency was. She said "I just got off work, I'm tired, and I want to go home." He let her go once he ran her info and found nothing outstanding.

I have only been pulled for speeding a few times and never got a ticket for that. I mostly get those pre-textual "Your brake/headlight is out" stops. When it rains a lot, water used to get into one of my headlights and one of the tail lights and blow the bulbs. I eventually just drilled a small hole through the plastic covers so they drain and that fixed the blown bulb issues.

 

why not just act like an adult and drive responsibly ..then you wont get a ticket..pay the stupid fine..and grow up

 

If it is a FINE only offense, not criminal, the 6th does not apply unless that state has ruled it does.

As a side note even the Vicinage Clause of the 6th has never applied to the states, even in Criminal cases.

 

Most traffic offenses anywhere are "Strict Liability" though, any Necessity defense better be good!!

 

There are FINE ONLY criminal offenses, and your source that that the state can burden shift onto the accused to prove their innocence in the face of no accuser alleging their guilt is what exactly?

And as a side note, the Vicinage Clause relates to juries, not to confrontation.

 

FINE only criminal offense?? CRIME implies possible jail time!

 

"Implies" means nothing. There are jailable criminal offenses and non-jailable criminal offenses.

 

What do you define as a CRIME/CRIMINAL per your citation?

 

I don't define what it criminal. The government defines what is criminal and they also decide what is or is not a jailable criminal offense, be that your local, state, or federal government. It is a crime for me not to get my dog a rabies shot, but it is not a jailable offense for instance.

 

I guess so, but the general definition is an offense that has no jail time. When they say that small amounts of MJ have been DEcriminalized, they mean, that only a fine will be imposed, no jail time.

Ohio has DEcriminalized up to 100 grams, but Municipalities are still free to criminalize it if they wish, meaning a jailable offense.